The present invention relates to inexpensive bright energy efficient illuminated signs, lighting fixtures and displays. It relates particularly to signs used to advertise real estate for sale or rent, but advantages of the present invention would be applicable to various other signs, displays and light devices for a variety of other uses.
Prior art signs are generally wood, plastic or metal panels with text and indicia printed on both sides and suspended by a cross arm attached to a post, or attached to a rectangular or U shaped frame. In particular most real estate signs used today are not illuminated and as a result cannot be easily seen at night. This is particularly unfortunate during winter months when people who are potential home buyers are commuting home from work at dusk or night during winter or daylight savings times. At such times an illuminated sign may catch their attention where otherwise the home for sale may go unnoticed.
There are a few existing solutions that try to address this problem, but they have failed to gain widespread use. Generally real estate signs are placed near the front of the property or street where there is no readily available source of electric power. To solve this problem several kinds of signs and signage lighting systems use battery power charged by a solar panel. Currently such signs are commonly lit by shining a light at them (from the top, bottom or sides), or back lit (where a light source is placed in a box behind a translucent panel). Examples of these signage solutions fall into two groups. Group one are signage lighting systems that light standard real estate signs by shining a light at them. Examples of this group are disclosed in Holman, U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,085 B1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Meyers, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,527, the contents of which are all incorporated herein by reference. Giannone, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,002, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and Doyle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,329 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The other group includes various forms of back-lit signage powered by solar charged batteries. Examples of these include: Reading, U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,924, Emert, U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,601 B1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, and Ter-Hovhannissian, U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,245 B2 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is believed the reason these signs have not gained wide spread acceptance and use is the often unorthodox and unprofessional appearance of the signs, as well as, the cost associated with their complex designs. In addition, these and other prior art back lit signs or displays are bulky requiring a custom built box-like enclosure; or, if made with an edge lit panels, are heavy and are limited in size. Also, prior art signs using light emitting diode (LED) light strips tend to exhibit “hot spots”, which are sections where the light is more intense than other sections, i.e. uneven light distribution. The instant invention provides solutions to these problems.